Building winning organisation through EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT WORKPLACES

You cannot be a teacher unless you touch the hearts of people On the job learning is ten times more potent than off the job learning A true teacher (which every line manager is expected to be needs to be a factor in the Emotionally Intelligent Workplace

 

 

When the book, Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Golean appeared in 1995, many business leaders agreed with the basic message that success is strongly influenced by personal qualities such as perseverance, self-control, and skill in getting along with others.

 ·     ·         They could point to "super sales persons" who had an uncanny ability to sense what was most important to the customers and to develop a trusting relationship with them.

·     ·         They could point to customer service employees who excelled when it came to helping angry customers to calm down and be more reasonable about their problems with the product or service.

·     ·         And they also could point to brilliant executives who did everything well except get along with people, or to managers who were technically brilliant but could not handle stress, and whose careers stalled because of these deficiencies. Business leaders well understood how valuable these "emotionally intelligent" employees are to an enterprise.

                                         

Current interest in "emotional intelligence" has raised the question of whether it is possible to improve the social and emotional competence of adult workers. Research in training and development, sports psychology, and behavior change suggests that it is possible, but the typical approach used in corporate training programs usually is flawed. Social and emotional learning is different from cognitive and technical learning, and it requires a different approach to training and development.

 

Cognitive learning involves fitting new data and insights into existing frameworks of association and understanding, extending and enriching the corresponding neural circuitry. But emotional learning involves that and more – it requires that we also engage the neural circuitry where our social and emotional habit repertoire is stored. Changing habits such as learning to approach people positively instead of avoiding them, to listen better, or to give feedback skillfully, is a more challenging task than simply adding new information to old.

 

According to studies, Emotional Intelligence is on the decline across all economic groups across all cultures. The most telling signs of this are in rising rates  of social disconnect among young people entering the workforce is a tech-overloaded era where people “speak” to one another in a workplace with emails and text messages

It is not surprising that  a survey of employers reveals that 4 in 10 people are not able to work cooperatively with fellow employees. Only one fifth of entry level applicants have enough self-discipline in their work habits. However when it comes to technical skill and the core competencies that make a company competitive can only be useful and effective  to the degree of emotional intelligence of its employees and leaders. 

This is the value of emotional intelligence in the workplace.... it is about how people and relationships function: relationships between colleagues, between directors and staff; relationships between the organization and its customers, stakeholders, suppliers There is the real , competitors, networking contacts, … everyone.

 The pain area which a business—or any organization—needs to address if it wants to lift itself from averagely successful to excellent: HOW WELL THE PEOPLE IN THE BUSINESS WORK TOGETHER. And there is a ripple effect - leaders possessing emotional intelligence will create an effective work climate that will further develop emotional intelligence at the subordinate levels. Studies show that, outstanding organizations that employ individuals with a high degree of emotional intelligence hold the following in common:

 

1.     ·         Organizational commitment to a basic strategy

2.     ·         Collaboration, support and sharing resources

3.     ·         Initiative to stimulate improvements in performance

4.     ·         Innovation, risk taking and learning together

5.     ·         Open communication and trust-building with all stakeholders

6.     ·         A passion for competition and continual improvement

7.     ·         Building relationships inside and outside that offer competitive advantage 

          8.     ·         A balance between the human and financial side of the company's agenda A workforce which is motivated, productive, efficient, aligned with the business, and committed; confident, likable, happy, and rewarded

 

Achieving excellence as a leader is all about that rare combination of hard logic coupled with excellent soft skills, and the ability to balance these appropriately in any situation to achieve high performance. According to the Centre for Creative Leadership, when

'star' performing leaders were compared with average ones, nearly 90 per cent of the difference was attributable to emotional intelligence (EI) factors rather than cognitive abilities.

 Companies that consistently beat the market excel in both dimensions of capability and capacity. However, most organisations excel in capability (process, technical skill, systems), but are weak in terms of capacity (purpose, leadership, cultures, ideas, energy). EI sits firmly in the capacity camp and is often overlooked in favour of building capability through skills development.

 

In fact, research suggests that EI is twice as important as technical skills and IQ in maintaining excellent performance and can be the defining factor of great leaders. This is why EI is still relevant after 17 years - at a time when it's all about 'more for less' with training budgets cut and time at a premium - developing EI is crucial and pays dividends in terms of ROI. Organisations are increasingly seeking to improve leadership performance and shape leadership style by developing EI.

 

Being emotionally intelligent is about managing behaviour to become personally effective (self awareness) and interpersonally effective (awareness/empathy with others). When measuring EI, we look at the roots underpinning behaviour and address underlying attitudes and habits. This leads to insight into how emotions and behaviours impact performance, effectiveness, leadership and relationships with others at work and in life. Having an awareness of how we respond to a certain situation means we can change our thinking, emotional state, behaviour and attitudes.

 

Leadership Training with EI has benefitted participant immensely Participants demonstrated substantial shifts in leadership capacity, EI and in the scope and scale of their roles and responsibilities. They found that the EI assessment enabled them to develop a greater understanding of themselves and others, empowering them to approach commercial challenges differently."

 

Relationships are the fundamental unit of value creation in an organisation: it's not about people, it's the relationships between them that matters. Developing emotionally intelligent leaders allows them build a combination of skills, attitude and habits to better manage business relationships. This is achieved through an individual's ability to recognise and regulate emotions in themselves and others, and to use this understanding to manage thinking and behaviours. When emotional and relational capacity is developed, leaders build a common ground and trust within their teams because effective leaders have a high belief in others and get the best out of people through forming close bonds. Ultimately this means leaders are better able to succeed in an increasingly high-pressure environment.

 

Emotional Intelligence  AT THE ORGANISATION LEVEL  is about leadership, teamwork, management skills and partnership. Founded on excellent practice and understanding of communication, the emotionally intelligent business consistently excels in all these areas and has insight into how this happens. Emotional intelligence is applicable to every human interaction in business: from staff motivation to customer service, from brainstorming to company presentations. But the subject is far deeper and wider than these examples, and emotional intelligence must be able to understand and deal with:

• how we assess people
• how relationships develop
• how our beliefs generate our experience
• as well as resistance to change, power struggles, judgment, competition, vision, leadership, success, and much more.

Increasing one’s Emotional Intelligence in the workplace gives many benefits. A few of them are:

1.     ·         better stress management;

2.     ·         improve coworker’s relationships or your colleagues’

3.     ·         increase in performance and productivity;

4.     ·         improve collaboration with one’s colleague

5.     ·         deal more efficiently with your upper colleagues or coworkers;

6.     ·         better management of priorities;

7.     ·         And improve leadership skills and management skills.

 All said and done; Emotional Intelligence in the workplace is one of the best skills one can acquire, improve or enhance to increase managerial competence ; increase workplace excellence; improve the customer orientation levels; make people team culture based

 

With best wishes

Dr Wilfred Monteiro

META+COACH model - empowering winning organizations with authentic leaders driven by values

 

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TRENDS 2022+

 

FACE THE FUTURE  : PERFORMANCE PARTNERSHIPS

 

Often said;  retrospective reviews are a waste of time because the problems that come up or the outstanding achievements should have been addressed at the time. The real issue should be focusing on the future direction of the employee their objectives for the year and what skills they need to achieve them.

The focus should be firmly on developing people and striving to have employees performing at the best they absolutely can and that means moving away from stagnating rating systems and infrequent reviews that focus on numbers rather than people to a more efficient, positive and forward-looking approach.

The question really  is how the system really improves performance... these days, bosses, priorities and jobs change very, very quickly. People need short, sharp feedback and to understand their part in the organization: 15 minutes at the most. Employee perceptions that PMS is used for development of people  will positively associate with employee satisfaction with the PMS

The new system involves ongoing "performance partnership" meetings between individuals and their managers. Workers are more accountable for their own success, and managers share the responsibility for improving employees' performance. Every position has expectations for leadership, and everyone receives coaching. Each performance partnership is based on company needs, and expectations are adjusted as global corporate demands change. Together, each manager and employee make a plan to improve performance and clarify expectations for a set time period.

 

 ADD MEANING TO AN OLD TRADITION…

Instead of structuring performance discussions around GIVING feedback, the researchers recommend training everyone — employees, supervisors, managers and execs —to instead ASK for feedback on a regular basis. That puts the asker in a position of control and reduces the stress reaction. It also means that everyone needs to think about specific aspects of the job they want to discuss before they begin the conversation.

 

Recent research indicates you can help form a healthy organizational culture by encouraging a common habit of thoughtful and honest communication by changing your feedback. Other research  supports the idea that organizational and financial results improve when positive and productive goal setting, performance assessments and career development conversations result in better employee motivation, engagement and retention. For HR pros, that means training managers and supervisors to give regular feedback. But it also means training them to encourage employees to ask for feedback — and to share their own feedback with peers. 

FOCUS ON INDIVIDUALIZED EMPLOYEE SUPPORT

Job Personalization is the flavor of the times…Personalization has become a key part of creating a delightful customer experience, and organizations will use the same approach in their performance management efforts. Personalization is moving out of the realm of business-to-consumer commerce and into almost every arena of human activity. A one-size-fits-all management approach can’t bring out the best in employees because every employee is different.For HR, this trend means empowering employees to find the best path to mastering skills needed to do their jobs. That translates into a need for customized training that focuses on the specific requirements of a job and individual employees’ specific skills and skill gaps.

Relying on individual data as well as feedback conversations provides managers the tools for tailoring their performance management system, curating employee development strategies and customizing other aspects of work for each individual employee. For example, Some employees are fine working in open, collaborative spaces; others are distracted. Giving employees options where they work, depending on the task, can affect short-term productivity and longer-term engagement. In the coming year, more managers will change their management strategy to take a personalized approach to motivating individuals to help them meet their performance goals, which in turn will boosts team performance.

 

EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE IS....

THE  REAL-TIME & THE REAL THING

The ultimate aim of the PMS was to create better performing individuals and teams. The focus is shifting from taking a "policeman" approach of appraisal to a  "guest experience " approach of a top cafe owner. The  attention has been focused on improving employee engagement, organizations are shifting their focus to improve EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE  Even though the vast majority  of HR managers agree that employee experience is very important to the success of the organization, not everyone understands what employee experience is. The employee experience is the human experience: the thoughts, feelings, emotions, decisions and overall qualitative experience that anybody has while working at a company. It’s how someone feels, the quality of their relationships and communications and the level of performance that they are supported in achieving. 

Creating a positive employee experience requires long-term commitment, and in many cases, a mindset shift that cascades from the C-suite down. Instead of focusing on how to get the most out of employees, leaders instead consider how they can help employees be their best. This means equipping people to meet their goals, implementing effective employee training and development strategies, and helping employees feel more passionate and creative about their work. It takes into account  how to design work culture, technology, and the physical environment.

It is important to create an atmosphere of understanding and openness where employees dealing with emotional stress and more serious mental health issues are comfortable discussing any difficulties they are experiencing with work.Employers can help by creating a framework for discussion and finding assistance, when appropriate.  

Organizations are realizing that the old way of doing performance management no longer works. Today’s employees desire authentic relationships with managers and opportunities for development & advancement. LOOK forward to hearing from you... could you tell me of the best practice or innovation in your company?

 

Best of luck

Dr Wilfred Monteiro

Astute managers see coaching skills as a vital addition to their personal effectiveness toolbox.

 HOW TO  MAKE A COACHING

   SESSION MORE EFFECTIVE

The power of coaching has been recognized in many areas for many years. Astute managers  see coaching skills as a vital addition to their personal effectiveness toolbox. Everybody has to start somewhere, but the challenge we face in providing coaches to executives in organizations is the need to put our most experienced and effective coaches in front of clients. 

Follow these points  to make your coaching and feedback process more effective.

KEEP IN MIND THE ORANISATION CONTEXT

Keep in mind more crucial components to creating a successful coaching culture within your organization. Make sure your coaching is aligned with your company’s core values. Coaching is the key to achieving company goals. Therefore, your coaching should be based on your organization’s core values. They become the “why” behind your advice and encouragement. This way, your coaching becomes less about what you think and reinforces the culture that you want in your organization. And when you and your employees are looking at the bigger picture together, it should help them be more receptive to you, too.

 

DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH

Before you go to your employees with a new project, you need to be clear in your own mind about what you want them to accomplish. Focus on what the end result should look like more than how you think they should get there. Think about the big picture. How will it affect your overall company objectives? How will it affect your employees’ role in the long run? If you can explain this to your employees, you’re more likely to get buy-in.

SET A GOAL WITH YOUR COACHEE

Then, it’s time to talk to your employees and set goals together. Discuss what you want to accomplish and be clear about your expectations. Consider giving your employees a model of what their end goal looks like or set specific criteria for what the output should include. Has this ever been done before? If so, is there someone else within the company or team who might provide some first-hand advice? Set your employees up for success by being crystal clear about your expectations.

In the same conversation, discuss a project timeline with your employees. Set milestones that build toward the end goal. Set up “check-in meetings” that allow you to get together along the way in order to evaluate how things are going. Talk about a deadline and indicate how important the timing may (or may not) be to the success of the project.

As your employees work toward accomplishing the goal you set together, be sure to attend your check-in meetings at the agreed upon times. Let them ask questions. Give praise for what’s going right with the project and make suggestions if you feel they need more direction. Also ensure your employees have access to all resources necessary to meet the goal.  Find what tools or aids they need to make the job done better. 

GET AGREEMENT ON THE WAY FORWARD

Probably the most critical step in the coaching meeting process is getting the employee to agree verbally that a performance issue exists. Overlooking or avoiding the performance issue because you assume the employee understands its significance is a typical mistake of managers. To persuade an employee a performance issue exists, a manager must be able to define the nature of the issue and get the employee to recognize the consequences of not changing his or her behavior. To do this, you must specify the behavior and clarify the consequences.

The skill of specifying the behavior consists of three parts.

1.    Cite specific examples of the performance issue.

2.    Clarify your performance expectations in the situation.

3.    Asks the employee for agreement on the issue.

The skill of clarifying consequences consists of two parts. You should:

1.    Probe to get the employee to articulate his or her understanding of the consequences associated with the performance issue.

2.    Ask the employee for agreement on the issue.

REVIEW TO CHECK UNDERSTANDING

Meet a final time with your employees to take a look back on the project as a whole. Discuss what worked, what didn’t, and what might be better if done differently next time. But be sure to make time to celebrate success and reward their accomplishments as well. This positive reinforcement helps make the extra effort feel worth it to your employees and encourages them to keep moving forward.

KEEP THE CONVERSATION FLOWING SMOOTHY

No matter the situation, coaching conversations should flow both ways with ample opportunity for mutual feedback and discussion. This way, you’re not removing your employees’ responsibility in the matter or doing the work for them. Collaboration in coaching emphasizes the relationship and teaches you how to become sounding boards for each other. Some coaches make the following mistakes too often; mainly out of good intention and lack of practice.

·       they ask too many questions to satisfy their own curiosity rather than getting to the heart of the matter. good coaches sift quickly for what is relevant and ignore the noise.
·         they let the client go on too long about their story. the narrative is important insofar as the coach or client needs it to write the ending—but detailed plot twists just waste time.
·         they ask a bunch of why questions to assess motive and purpose. many people being coached don’t know the why of anything and will go in circles trying to figure it out. why is to be used on very rare occasions to help the client get through layers to reach what’s real and true.
·         they step over opportunities to challenge the client about attitudes, beliefs, or potentially unproductive behavior. it takes some courage but it is part of the job. i have worked with clients who said they had worked with other coaches they characterized as being “too nice.”

 ·         When you establish great coaching relationships with your employees, it can improve every interaction you have with them and makes management far easier. Effective coaching can build more trust on both sides and keep the door to improvement open at all times.

GET A COMMITMENT TO ACT
The next step is to help the employee choose an alternative. Don't make the choice for the employee. To accomplish this step, the manager must be sure to get a verbal commitment from the employee regarding what action will be taken and when it will be taken. Be sure to support the employee's choice and offer praise. Employee excuses may occur at any point during the coaching meeting. To handle excuses, rephrase the point by taking a comment or statement that was perceived by the employee to be blaming or accusatory and recast it as an encouragement for the employee to examine his or her behavior. Respond empathically to show support for the employee's situation and communicate an understanding of both the content and feeling of the employee's comment.

 

CONCLUDING 

These key points  can not only help you when coaching but also make you an even better manager or leader. Take time to assess where you strengths lie and where you need to develop. The good news is that new coaches can move ahead much more quickly by identifying any of these possible errors in their own approach and practicing alternative approaches that are more beneficial to clients. With practice, new coaches will soon find themselves having the productive engagements that we—and all coaching organizations—look for.

 

Best of luck

Dr Wilfred Monteiro

Have you ever found out why the talented employees leave your company and leave you puzzled???

 

WHAT REALLY MATTERS IN  TALENT RETENTION ? Have you ever found out why the talented employees you wanted to keep leave your company and leave you puzzled???  Especially today, we are climbing out of a long and prolonged  economic downturn. And any hope of   recovery would mean booming pay packages and accelerated attrition rates! Every CEO and HR chief  is worried… Yet the key to the problem definition is simple. Let me give you a few examples of some challenges working people all deal with. Imagine that you are facing these situations. How would you react? 1.    You’ve been working in as a Brand Marketing Manager and a Regional Sales Managers job opening is in Hyderabad. It would be a perfect career move for you but the company fills the job without even asking if you’re interested. The company does’t bother to ask because they feel a Sales Manager working out of Hyderabad has better knowledge of the local market. What would you do? 2.    Or imagine this. You’re in a meeting. It’s your opportunity to shine in front of upper management. You’ve got an important point to make and you start to talk. Someone cuts you off because he is senior in the organization hierarchy or belongs to the inner circle of the big boss. What would you do? 3.    Or let’s say you make that important point—and no one says a word about it. But five minutes later, a guy at the other end of the table says the same thing you did. This time it’s a brilliant idea, and he gets all the credit. What would you do? In the three cases cited above your would agree that PEOPLE OFTEN QUIT A CORPORATE CULTURE THAN QUIT THE JOB ( because the next employment has the same job!) The people today have high pressures on the job. The give their heart out….. work late nights and weekends. On vacation people spend the entire day taking phone calls when they’re supposed relax. And people generate ideas and create the solutions that your organizations need but lie dead within the coffee chat corner. And, the people who may resign because no one has recognized their abilities they are waiting for growth opportunities or just feel put down by organization structures. It takes more than writing “equal opportunity” into your organization’s mission statement. Talented employees want exciting challenges and great development opportunities. Any  employee feedback survey which asks  people what they look for when deciding which company to join and stay with.  THE ANSWER was not the biggest pay packet but :  A GREAT COMPANY CULTURE AND A GREATER JOB ENGAGEMENT. The goal of the talent management process is to increase overall workforce productivity To succeed, companies need to deploy a smart talent strategy. With three core processes: Understand what your people can do Deploy them better today 3.    Ensure they can do more tomorrow What are the characteristics of a good talent management system? First, there is ownership and involvement across the whole company, not just with the human resource management department. Second, business objectives permeate every aspect of the system from employer branding to appraisal through development. Third, the system is measured in real business terms and results are acted upon. Talent management systems do not leave key factors to chance. The organization carefully develops a distinct 'employer brand' to attract talent, thinks through how work is organized and its impact on issues such as employee satisfaction and retention. A talent management system is part of the fabric of the organization. It produces excellent results because it overcomes the major problem of traditional recruiting, which is in vertical silos. It instead integrates the previously independent functions of recruiting, retention, workforce planning, employment branding, metrics, orientation and redeployment into a seamless process. Whilst Talent Management would imply a long term strategic plan, nonetheless it is a agglomeration of  BEST PRACTICES on a 365 day basis. Here are a few practical guideposts: Determine what motivates your individual employees. For most employees, money is not the key issue; relationships, fulfillment and recognition ,opportunities for learning are.   Notice how much recognition an employee needs. Some employees can go years without praise, whereas others will leave after six months. Have other managers praise an employee's work. This lets him know that you've spread the good word about him to other departments.   Understand that many employees are motivated by their social network at work. Encourage activities that make your employees feel like valued members of a team.   Realize that incentives don't have to be huge. A surprise gift certificate for the local ice cream parlor in the weekly meeting recognition scheme, will generate positive and lasting feelings.   Be sensitive to the balance between work and private life. Employees can work 70-hour weeks for only so long.Consider telecommuting, job sharing and other flexible working arrangements… today in Mumbai 70% of the fatigue is travelling to and from home to place-of-work. "Alignment" is another key element of a successful Talent Strategy.  When selecting or developing people, most organisations focus on the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours required for the role.  However, some organisations are beginning to look at the behaviours required to operate effectively in a particular team or culture. A good talent management system, facilitates the continuous movement of talent to where it can have the most impact within the organization. Talent Management has a meticulous and fast moving induction & orientation process. It ensures that new hires are immediately productive… otherwise as one MNC noticed most people leave on the 35th day of joining ( after collecting their first salary) and sending their resignation by SMS Shifting responsibility to managers. Talent management pushes the accountability and the responsibility for executing people management down to the line management levels.   Measuring success with productivity. Talent management shifts the success measures from the more traditional HR and recruiting functional metrics towards measuring the overall productivity of the workforce.   Create clear career paths at the company… people want quick growth and the one who recognizes his path is chocked by a “squatter” ( someone who won’t leave or can’t move up) will leave early and the crisis is more severe when it is a key position with rare skills sets.   Use special tasks & projects to develop people to their fullest potential. In order to develop your people, provide training opportunities, challenging projects and assignments, feedback, coaching and mentoring.   Aim at creating personal growth & development through mentoring. Time after time, successful people have recorded that one of the most important keys to their success is having a mentor. In one client assignment where  our consulting firm  Synergy Management Associates (www.synergymanager.net)  used a mentoring intervention , half of the participants  said the mentoring experience “CHANGED MY LIFE.” In the new knowledge economy, companies that know how to develop and manage human capital will hold a competitive advantage. The late Jack Welch legendary CEO at General Electric USA, notes ,”… in the best companies, talent is viewed as a key strategic resource for achieving business objectives and is never taken for granted."      With  best  compliments   Dr Wilfred  Monteiro